The Sound of Love

I've seen a lot of beautiful rings in my life but nothing as unique as Jen and Brad's rings.  On their quest to find something truly magical they located a gal in Brooklyn New York who cut the words I do into their special wedding bands. Both Jen and Brad love music. Music is a part of their every day, their jobs and their lives. How better to put their special stamp on their special day then to have the words "I Do" engraved on the rings in the form of a music wave. You can see that each engraving is different. On Brad's ring you see the voice of Jen as she says "I Do" and vice versa. Truly unique!  

Hear Ye Hear Ye - You are Invited to a Knights and Dragons Birthday Party!

Welcome one and all to the world of Knights and Dragons!  We celebrated Gavin's 2nd Birthday in real style at a private residence in Las Vegas.

I started with a one of a kind invitation that I created in Microsoft Publisher.  I like to use publisher because I can save my document as a JPEG or a PDF.  We started by researching some free artwork on google for our images including the old paper background, the strips on the top and the bottom, our courageous knight atop his steed and the fun dragon at the bottom (the dragon was the hardest because I didn't want him to be too scary for this occasion).  Some tips for finding images: use google images and sort at the top by image size to get the biggest size for the clearest images; search for vector based graphics that are in PNG format as many of these don't have a colored background behind the image that you have to deal with; change up your search terms if you aren't finding what you need. 

Once you have found your artwork, then you need to download some fun fonts.  I did a google search for "knight font" and "dragon font" and came up with some great fonts on the web that were easy to download and mix in on my invitation.  I do suggest using a common and easy to read font for the most important text.

To give the invitations that extra touch, we burned the edges with a candle, rolled the invites into scrolls and tied them with a red ribbon before handing them out.  My husband discovered that you can take a stack of invites, roll them, and burn the edges all at once to make it super easy and consistent.  We even used the extras around the house for decor at the party.

 Want to see more of this amazing party?  Check out How to Celebrate with Knights and Dragons to see how it came together!

How to Celebrate with Knights and Dragons

Looking for the most amazing birthday party idea for a little boy?  Knights and dragons are pretty awesome! With the help of family, friends and some amazing vendors, Gavin's 2nd birthday was pretty darn special.

Learn how to make these amazing one of a kind knights and dragons invitations.

Gavin's Party was at a private home in Las Vegas.  We decorated the front yard with a left over invitation scroll hung by a nail on the tree with a shield and two crossed swords.  In the yard, we added blue and red balloons to the very large yard to add a festive touch to the entrance.  Tip: To create a field of balloons, use golf tees in the grass to hold your balloons in place.

To begin our knight training, each little boy and girl received a helmet, shield, blow up sword and a goblet.

The adults used their larger goblets for the specially prepared dragon juice.  Small goodie tote-bags with different knight emblems were used after the party to take home goblets, dragon eggs and other precious jewels.

All the wonderful decor was found at Chasing Fireflies, Oriental Express and Party City.

Of course, the party would not be complete without the movie viewing area inside.  I created a sandwich board from a large poster (just turned backside out) and pasted on some legal sized posters I printed of "How To Train Your Dragon".

We borrowed the rug and stuffed animals from Gavin's room since he happens to already love dragons.

You can use this idea for any movie (Cars is coming to mind with Gavin's recent infatuation with the series of Cars and Planes movies!).

No party is complete without food!  I found some great dragon stickers and attached them to some card tents I printed on heavy paper using a free font I found on google search (search "knight text").

Guests enjoyed dragon dogs (hot dogs in crescent rolls), dragon scales (assorted chips), dragon eggs (metallic easter eggs filled with fruit chews), and dragon wings (chicken wings).  For the adults, we made dragon fire juice with fruit and wine.

 Did I mention the cake yet?!?!?  My long time friend and wonderful baker, Brittany at Cravin' Cakes, came through with a beauty of a cake.  Inside this beautiful, kid friendly dragon is her famous confetti cake.  Although we don't know for sure, we think she uses fruity pebbles for her confetti (SO yummy).  We also had shield cupcakes in assorted flavors for the quick grab and eat guests (aka all the kids).

So cute trying to blow out those two candles from so far away!

A sure way to get your boys to sit down and eat!

Some other touches that we had to share:

• Cardboard castle with custom signage that says "Sir Gavin" (Chasing Fireflies)
• Floating dragon for the moat/swimming pool (WinCo) - *Note: Please have a full-time lifeguard on duty at any children's birthday party with a pool*
• Knight's Changing Room Tent for everyone to put on those swimming diapers (Chasing Fireflies)

Thanks to all our vendors for helping out.  Please visit them to see more of their wonderful work.  For more information or inspiration, please visit us on Facebook!

Vendors:

Venue: Private Home

Photographer: Stephen Salazar Photography

Cake: Cravin' Cake

Castle and Dragon Decor: Chasing Fireflies

Giveaways and Small Decor: Oriental Trading and Party City

Party Planner: Parties by Paris

Say Something Derby

I love big hats and any occasion where I can wear one.  Sounds like the perfect reason to have a Derby themed event!  I have been inspired by so many wonderful ladies over the last few weeks and I wanted to share some of my favorites with you.

The Hats.  I have a beautiful, big, lovely hat without a darn place to wear it to.  How about you?  Take a look at these beauties and don't forget to tell your friends that your Derby Dinner is hat friendly!

When it comes to decor for your Derby Celebration, I am a fan of simple and clean white linens and the traditional red roses.  There is something to be said for classic decor.

Speaking of classic, these julep cups remind me of the classic Mint Julep!  It isn't the Kentucky Derby without one...  I found this great recipe at Bottoms Up.  Make sure to visit their site to see how they make this amazing beverage.

Classic Kentucky Mint Julep

• 2.5 ounces bourbon
• 25–30 mint leaves
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• ice cubes
• crushed ice

For the mint simple syrup:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 large bunch mint leaves

I could go on and on but will leave you with one last inspired item that will make your tummy happy.  The prettiest little Benedictine Sandwich complements of Damaris Phillips.

Please share your pictures and stories of your Kentucky Derby inspired events!

Throw the Perfect Holiday Luncheon - St. Patrick's Day

Nothing is more fun then getting together with your friends and celebrating!  Today we feature the setup for a group of ladies at the Las Vegas Country Club who hosted lunch for twenty women on March 17th.  Our favorite St. Patrick's Day touches included:

• Shamrock green pashmina giveaways that doubled as chair ties
• Potted ivy, shamrocks and other assorted plants used on the table to fill in the space and used as takeaways for the guests
• Menu cards printed on glittered gold card stock
• Authentic Irish menu complete with "Paddy Wagon" beverages (Whiskey and Persecco = Yumm!)

Floral: ACS Floral and Events
Venue/Food: The Las Vegas Country Club
Pashmina Gifts: Fashion Anything
Chair Rentals: RSVP Party Rental

Wedding Cakes that Tell a Story

It is hard to be unique when it comes to cake design.  The newest thing to hit the internet is the story cake.  Here are two examples, one for a wedding and one for an anniversary.  The question is, do you read it from top to bottom or vice versa?

What do you think about this new craze?